1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope reprocessor having an endoscope housing portion in which an endoscope is housed and in which the endoscope is immersed in a medicinal solution.
2. Description of the Related Art
Medicinal solution treatment of an endoscope using an endoscope reprocessor is performed by supplying a medicinal solution that is stored in a medicinal solution tank to an endoscope housing portion through a medicinal solution conduit accompanying driving of a medicinal solution transfer portion, so that an endoscope comes in contact with the medicinal solution at a preset temperature and for a predetermined time period in the endoscope housing portion.
Controlling the concentration of the medicinal solution so that the medicinal efficacy is not lowered is important to reliably perform medicinal solution treatment of an endoscope. The reason is because there are some medicinal solutions for which the concentration decreases from an initial concentration due to repeated use or natural deterioration. Hence, checking of the medicinal solution concentration is generally performed each time a medicinal solution treatment process is performed on an endoscope.
Various techniques are known for checking a medicinal solution concentration. Examples of such techniques include techniques that check whether the concentration of a medicinal solution is equal to or greater than an effective concentration by sampling a medicinal solution from a medicinal solution sampling port provided at a position partway along the medicinal solution conduit, and then immersing a test paper in the medicinal solution and observing a change in the color of the test paper, or by coloring the medicinal solution after sampling, and measuring the transmittance of light according to the shading of the color using an absorptiometer to convert the concentration of the medicinal solution into a numerical value.
Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-57792, an endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus is disclosed that, by providing a medicinal solution concentration sensor in a medicinal solution tank, can automatically check whether the concentration of a medicinal solution is equal to or greater than an effective concentration without separately sampling the medicinal solution.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-57792 also discloses a configuration that, in a case where a medicinal solution concentration that is detected by the concentration sensor is less than an effective concentration lower limit, locks a top cover of the endoscope cleaning/disinfecting apparatus to prevent an endoscope that was subjected to medicinal solution treatment by a medicinal solution whose concentration is less than the effective concentration lower limit being taken out from the endoscope housing portion, and urges the operator to replace the medicinal solution.